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LOTTERY SUPPORT FOR NEWHAVEN PEACE DAY

October 16th, 2018

Newhaven Town Council has received a National Lottery grant of £9,900 to deliver a project commemorating 100 years since the Peace Day events held in the town in 1919 to mark the end of the First World War.

Awarded through the Heritage Lottery Fund’s First World War then and now programme, the project will culminate in a Peace Day Community Event at Newhaven Fort in July 2019, to enable all sections of the community to join in the celebrations and find out more about the town’s heritage.

Year 6 children from Harbour Primary and Denton Community Primary schools will enjoy workshops as part of the project which will help them to uncover the story of Newhaven and Denton’s Peace Day commemorations and re-imagine them in their own celebrations. They will use newspapers and photographs from 100 years ago to see how peace was celebrated in 1919 and plan their own Peace Day. In 1919, children in Newhaven and Denton were given souvenir mugs to commemorate peace and taking this as inspiration, children will design their own peace mugs.

On Saturday the 20th of July 2019, Newhaven Fort will open its doors for the town’s Peace Day celebrations, which will include heritage talks from local historians, a Peace Day trail, film showings, arts and crafts and much more. Free tickets to the Fort for this community celebration will be available for local residents.

This project will build on the success of a previous First World War project in Newhaven which was also funded by a grant from Heritage Lottery Fund and which has created the lasting legacy of the Poppy Trail of information lecterns around the town, telling local residents and visitors alike about the town’s vital role during the First World War, together with a wealth of additional information on the town council’s website HERE.

The Town Mayor of Newhaven, Councillor Paul Boswell, explained: “We are delighted that we’ve received this support thanks to National Lottery players. We hope everyone in the town will join together to remember with pride the vital role Newhaven played in the First World War and to celebrate the coming of peace.”

The photo above from the Newhaven Museum collection, shows Peace Day being celebrated in Denton in 1919.